Host Veena Srinivasan sits down with Dr. Tom Gleeson, renowned hydrologist and Professor at the University of Victoria, Canada.

Dr. Tom Gleeson shares his journey from a small-town experience with groundwater contamination to becoming a global leader in groundwater research. The conversation explores Tom’s early fieldwork in fractured rock aquifers, the challenges of modeling groundwater systems, and his pivotal role in developing global groundwater sustainability frameworks. Tom and Veena discuss the importance of context in water management and the need for both local and global perspectives.

This is Season 2, Episode 4 of the Water Data Podcast, a talk show on the science, systems, and stories of water hosted by Veena Srinivasan. Veena Srinivasan is an award-winning socio-hydrologist as well as the founder and Executive Director of WELL Labs, a water systems research and innovation centre based in Bengaluru, India.

Dr Gleeson also delves into his recent work on community-based watershed monitoring and the power of citizen science, highlighting innovative projects that blend science, policy, and indigenous data governance. The episode concludes with a thought-provoking discussion on integrating art and emotion into science communication, emphasising that real change comes from engaging both the mind and the heart.

Subscribe to the Water Data Podcast for more conversations at the intersection of data, science, and society!

For all references and further readings related to the episode, visit https://welllabs.org/wdp-gleeson/

Subscribe to The Water Data Podcast on your favourite podcast app - and catch video episodes on the WELL Labs YouTube channel @welllabs.

Subscription links: Youtube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Castbox, and wherever you get your podcasts!

Recording by Nabina Chakraborty. Video editing by Nabina Chakraborty. Graphics and artwork by Aparna Nambiar. Audio mixing and mastering by Vijay Doiphode. Podcast production and management by Nabina Chakraborty and Pavan Srinath.

How and why does flooding take place? How are flood risks evolving with climate change and large-scale human alteration of riverscapes and watersheds? Does it even make sense to measure a ‘100-year-flood’ any more?

Stockholm Water Prize 2025 winner Dr Guenter Bloeschl shares a masterclass on the science and management of floods on the third episode of Season 2 of the Water Data Podcast. The Water Data Podcast is a talk show on the science, systems, and stories of water hosted by Veena Srinivasan.

Professor Guenter Bloeschl is a hydrologist, engineer and academic from Austria. Dr Bloeschl is Head of the Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and Water Resources Management, Director of the Centre for Water Resource Systems of the Vienna University of Technology as well as Chair of the Vienna Doctoral Programme on Water Resource Systems.

He is also the 2025 recipient of the Stockholm Water Prize, awarded by the Swedish Academy of Sciences and the Stockholm Water Foundation. One of the highest honours in the water sciences, Dr Bloeschl received it for his extensive work on flood risk reduction, water resource management, flood scaling, and regional process hydrology.

In this episode, Dr Bloeschl talks about the science of flooding, what research shows about the evolving causes and impacts of floods in Europe, and flood mitigation and management lessons for India and the world.

For all references and further readings related to the episode, visit https://welllabs.org/wdp-bloeschl

Subscribe to The Water Data Podcast on your favourite podcast app - and catch video episodes on the WELL Labs YouTube channel @welllabs.

Subscription links: Youtube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Audible, Castbox, and wherever you get your podcasts!

Recording by Nabina Chakraborty. Video editing by Vraj Acharya. Graphics and artwork by Aparna Nambiar. Audio mixing and mastering by Vijay Doiphode. Podcast production and management by Nabina Chakraborty and Pavan Srinath.

Do farmers share and sell groundwater to each other informally? Can you price water for farmers? How does new technology get adopted in agriculture? Does solar irrigation make sense for India?

Dr Soumya Balasubramanya has a wide-ranging discussion with host Veena Srinivasan on the second episode of Season 2 of the Water Data Podcast.

Dr Soumya Balasubramanya is a senior economist with the World Bank, and previously a Senior Researcher in Environment and Development Economics at the International Water Management Institute-CGIAR. Soumya has worked extensively on analysing informal groundwater markets in South Asia, on irrigation and solar-powered irrigation, on pricing, and on evaluating water quality interventions in Arsenic-polluted waters.

This episode is co-hosted by Pavan Srinath, Managing Partner at WELL Labs.

For all references and further readings related to the episode, visit https://bit.ly/waterdatapod-sbala

Subscribe to The Water Data Podcast on your favourite podcast app - and catch video episodes on the WELL Labs YouTube channel @welllabs.

Subscription links: Youtube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Audible, Castbox, and wherever you get your podcasts!

Recording by Pavan Srinath. Video editing by Nabina Chakraborty. Graphics and artwork by Aparna Nambiar. Audio mixing and mastering by Vijay Doiphode. Podcast production and management by Nabina Chakraborty and Pavan Srinath.